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Monday, August 15, 2011

1st Day of School!

Today was the first day of school for both my kiddos in NM. Carter is in first grade and Hayden is attending his first Montessori school. Carter was super excited to "have 3 recesses and work all day", but Hayden was a little upset at the idea of going back to school. Once we got to his school though, the tears stopped and he had a great morning. When we picked up Carter he had already made a new friend. So excited for another school year!


Carter and his new friend, Gabe


boys with Daddy



boys with Mommy


my precious boys--preschool and 1st grade







Trip to Colorado

In the midst of the moving process (before most of our stuff arrived from Texas), my mom took the whole family (including Steven's girlfriend, Jennie) to Three Rivers Resort in Gunnison, Colorado, for a relaxing weekend. We stayed at a great cabin in the beautiful Gunnison National Forest near Crested Butte. On Saturday morning we rode horses--Carter's first horseback ride! Steven and Jennie generously offered to watch Hayden while we rode since he was too little to ride. That afternoon we hiked and ate dinner on the beach of Taylor Resovoir. Sunday morning we did a rafting trip 9 miles down the Gunnison river. Hayden was allowed to go on this trip with us so the whole family went. Good memories!





Carter riding "Freckles"

Mom, Alison, & Kristen





Carter & Freckles



Friday, August 5, 2011

Our new adventure!

As most (if not all) of the readers of my blog know, we recently embarked on a new adventure--leaving our home of 12 years in Fort Worth, TX, and moving to the northern mountains of New Mexico where I'm from. This relocation was approximately 2 years in the making as Heath and I had decided we wanted to make some changes for our family and try out a new opportunity. Heath accepted a job at Los Alamos National Laboratory working on their proton accelerator.

We put our house on the market at the end of July and arrived in Los Alamos on Aug. 1. The first week we spent looking at rental properties, elementary schools and preschools. There is not much available on the rental market here, but we were fortunate to find a place that suits us well. It is an adobe townhome with a lovely private courtyard and shared community park in the back. It's 1500 sq. ft., 3 bedroom, 2 bath. Can't wait to move in and make it home! We will also do some landscaping which we are excited about.

We are deciding between 2 elementaries and 2 preschools for the boys. Most preschools here are Montessori and it has been interesting learning about that method of instruction. School starts for Carter Aug. 15th and Heath starts work Aug. 22nd.

When we haven't been house hunting or looking at schools this week, we have been walking, hiking, riding bikes, going to parks, and driving in the mountains. The weather here is so wonderful--about 75-85 during the day and 60 at night. We've also enjoyed our time with my sister, brother, and mother.

Check back for more updates as we begin this new adventure!

2 views of the courtyard in our new rent house



Friday, July 8, 2011

Cow Appreciation Day

Today at Chick-Fil-A it was "Cow Appreciation Day." If you came in dressed like a cow, you got a free meal. On Tuesday when I had my final TeenMOPS meeting, Heath took the boys to Chick-Fil-A. The staff was helping the kids decorate their cow costumes. So, today we put them back on and I took them to lunch. They had a great time giving the big cow high-fives and it was fun seeing all the people (grown-ups included) dressed like cows.




Hayden has been wearing many hats lately. Here he is dressed as a firefighter at the children's musuem and in a duckie hat from summer MDO.











Monday, June 20, 2011

Blast ball and music camp

Summer has started off with a bang! After a couple weeks of boredom (made worse by triple-digit heat), Carter started his first of 3 camp sessions--music camp. They composed songs, learned different instruments, and did a lot of singing and dancing. He really liked it and looked forward to going back each day. This week is art camp and then science camp is in July.


Hayden started Blast Ball--a variant of t-ball for younger kids. His team is the Yellowjackets. They played their first game Saturday and Hayden did great! The first time he batted, he hit the ball, ran to first base and did a sommersault right onto the base!



Yellowjackets fielding--Hayden is the last one on the right


Hayden and Daddy




Hayden batting




Carter singing at music camp







Friday, June 3, 2011

My First Grader



Last day of kindergarten

Love this guy!

Monday, May 23, 2011

End-of-school-year happenings

Last Thursday Carter attended the school yearbook-signing party at a local McDonald's. It was cute seeing all the kids sign each other's yearbooks. Friday was Field Day where they had 18 athletic activities (9 indoor, 9 outdoor) that they competed in with their class. Although it rained off and on, the school did not cancel the fun. Carter was exhausted afterward, but he had a great time. He wore his swimsuit with his Field Day shirt to class. Saturday was Carter's end-of-season t-ball party at a teammate's house who has a pool. Boy was that fun for the kids! More end-of-school activities this week and next.




Hayden finished out his year in the 2's class at Young Children's World on Thursday. He's ready for a whole summer of "stay at home with Mommy days". Is Mommy ready?


On another note, on Friday evening the TeenMOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group that I'm on the leadership team for held our annual fundraiser. This year we had a Mardi Gras Casino Night with a Cajun dinner and gaming (with funny money). We raised $4400! We worked so hard to put together this fundraiser and the young ladies we serve will really benefit from the generosity of those who attended.

eating ice-cream at the t-ball party


swim time!




Field Day!



yearbook signing with friends